Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Travellers: Media

Baroness Whitaker: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Leeds Gypsy & Traveller Exchange and London Gypsies and Travellers, in collaboration with PIRCMedia that Moves, published on 27 January; and what steps they are taking to support the recommendations in that report.

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: Her Majesty’s Government has noted the report and its findings.Regarding the report's findings on press regulations, Her Majesty’s Government is committed to a free and independent media. It is not appropriate for Her Majesty’s Government to arbitrate on what should or should not be published or broadcast. Ofcom is the UK’s independent regulator of television services. The Ofcom Broadcasting Code covers standards in programmes and has rules to ensure that broadcast news is reported with due accuracy and impartiality. There exists an independent self regulatory regime to ensure that the press adheres to a wider set of clear and appropriate standards, and to offer individuals a means of redress where these are not met.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Singapore: Capital Punishment

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, following the execution of Nagaenthran Dharmalingam for smuggling drugs into Singapore 12 years ago, they will make representations to the government of Singapore against the execution of so-called “drug mules”.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: It is the longstanding policy of the UK Government to oppose the death penalty. The UK Government has raised concerns with the Government of Singapore about the resumption of executions, including the case of Nagaenthran Dharmalingam. We continue to urge all countries that retain the death penalty, including Singapore, to impose a moratorium on executions as the first step towards the abolition of the death penalty.

Department of Health and Social Care

Immunosuppression: Coronavirus

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty's Government how manyimmunocompromised individuals have been hospitalised in England with COVID-19 since 17 March.

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty's Government immunocompromisedindividuals have died in England as a result of COVID-19 since 17 March.

Lord Kamall: The information requested is not held centrally.

Treasury

NHS and Social Services: Finance

Lord Field of Birkenhead: To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the percentage of GDP that will be spent on health and social care once their current reforms are fully implemented.

Baroness Penn: Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 set out departmental budgets, including those for health and social care, until 2024-25. The Department of Health and Social Care’s settlement provided an increase to resource and capital spending to £188.6 billion in 2024-25. GDP is subject to change over time and the government does not generally estimate individual department allocations as a share of GDP. However, total government spending as a percentage of GDP is included in the Spring Statement 2022 document which is based on the most recent forecast from the independent Office for Budget Responsibility.

Personal Savings

Lord Birt: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to assess (1) whether the market for savers is working effectively, and (2) why the interest rates offered to savers by the major banks are not rising in line with the Bank of England base rate.

Baroness Penn: The Government recognises that over recent years low interest rates have made it challenging for people’s savings to grow. This is why the Government remains committed to supporting savers of all income levels and at all stages of life to save and has introduced a range of measures to support this.The amount of money that individuals can save into their ISAs each year has been increased to a record £20,000 and a Personal Savings Allowance of up to £1,000 for basic rate taxpayers and up to £500 for higher rate taxpayers has been introduced. These measures mean that around 95% of people with savings income pay no tax on that income, giving consumers more flexibility to shop around when choosing the best savings product for them. Alongside these measures, the Lifetime ISA allows younger people to benefit from a 25% government bonus on up to £4,000 of savings each year towards a first home, or later life. While the Help to Save scheme supports working families on low incomes to build up a rainy-day fund by offering a 50% bonus on up to £50 of monthly saving.However, the pricing of financial products, including the interest rates offered on savings accounts, is a commercial decision for firms and the Government does not plan to intervene in, or make assessments of, such decisions. The independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England makes monetary policy decisions independently of the Government. The MPC sets the base rate of interest, which is known as the Bank Rate. This is the rate of interest the Bank of England will pay on reserves held with them by commercial banks. MPC decisions over Bank Rate guide commercial banks’ decisions over retail interest rates, i.e. interest rates they charge on loans and pay on deposits. However, commercial banks also make commercial judgements that influence the degree of pass‐through from changes in Bank Rate into retail interest rates, with conditions in financial markets and in the banking sector also influencing interest rates paid on deposits or charged for lending.